Musical accompaniment in board games
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There are many studies that prove that music in video games improves immersion and performance. The choice of music depends on the genre in which you play: music in a fighting game and in civilization are very different. In the first case, it is aimed at speed and dynamism, in the second it is slightly different from music for board games, which I will talk about later. You can see for yourself. Try turning off the music in Cuphead and it suddenly goes from fast and chaotic to very tactful and slow.
And how about board games?
A lot depends on the people you play with. For some people, the game itself is a background for a loud conversation, and therefore the music will be superfluous. This group includes people who don't listen to music, and the game itself is enough for them to immerse themselves. Fewer people believe that music is only needed in big and atmospheric games. Only a few regularly play music.
So which games can you play music in?
First of all, we reject abstracts. If your entire game consists of conventional meeples or figures, it doesn't matter what you put in the background, because the game doesn't rely on immersion, you need to focus on the process. Most of the time this will be true, but in England it has been recorded that rock music impairs concentration while playing. The participants of the study played "Operation" - a game in which you need to use tweezers to remove bones from a voluminous man. Interestingly, much stronger rock music distracts men.
This leads us to believe that music in games works in the same way as music while working. There are many such studies, most of them adhere to the principle that classical and slow music helps us think, and dynamic and loud music encourages movement. But this does not answer the question of immersion in the game, which I want to consider in more detail.
My friends and I were playing "Dead Season" once, and the ambient music that someone had put together was playing in the background. In the track, disturbing music played softly, the winds howled and sometimes you could hear the crunch of snow. Zombies occasionally growled. And so the player decides to move from a location to a location without gasoline and rolls a damage die. "Death" drops out, and at the same moment zombies start growling in the track. We made our way to the ants.
How to make music an element of the game that will affect the process? There are several types of companies.
The first to select a musical team on the theme of the game. This approach affects the process in the same way as in the experience with "Operation". But if you make the music quieter and in the background, the impact will be less. Sometimes such players play music at the beginning of the game to set the mood, but when they get into the process, they turn off the music so as not to distract. This technique is popular in role-playing games, but we are still taking them out of parentheses. This approach affects the gameplay, but probably changes the balance.
Others choose a thematic environment. If fantasy, we put folk. If it's a western, we play soundtracks from movies about cowboys. Players who try this approach for the first time say that playing becomes more fun and more atmospheric. If the ambient is assembled from sound effects, as in the example with "Dead Season", then the best immersion is noted. This approach works for immersion, but won't work for games without a theme. Will work well on large and medium games.
Still others make a mixed selection that reflects the theme of the game and its mood. For example, this resource contains playlists for almost any game. Ambients are rarely found there, most often works selected for the game.
This approach can include original music for specific games. On "Melodice" in playlists you can find music written for specific games, for example "Tribes" or Shadows of Brimstone. In my opinion, this is the best option, but it requires additional training.
It can be summarized that:
- Music in games affects our intellectual activity. It is better not to include it when playing abstracts and games with a large number of variables.
- Music in themed games enhances immersion. When preparing a game night, we recommend choosing a themed playlist.
- Music in games is optional. Better to ask your company if they want to include it.
Somehow we will try to play the same game several times with appropriate, foreign and atmospheric music and see how the perception of the game changes. Until then, enjoy the exciting games!
